


The checkup

by Get_below_my_line_of_vision



Series: Slowly loving you [3]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Angst, Depression, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 01:24:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17694932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Get_below_my_line_of_vision/pseuds/Get_below_my_line_of_vision
Summary: A little update on Enjolras and Grantaire was needed.Courfeyrac and Combeferre visited Enjolras after weeks of disappearing to realise he's having a depressive breakdown.Meanwhile Marius and Jehan visit Grantaire to realise he's still chugging down beer like he used to.In short, Les Amis are trying to find out why Enjolras and Grantaire have been avoiding each other.





	The checkup

**Author's Note:**

> This is obviously a part of a series, so I would prefer if the previous works have been read first but if you don't want to that's okie dokie.

There were always permanent chatter within the Musain, but this time it was not Les Amis who dominated the café, but rather the mutterings of regular customers or newcomers. The rest were silent or were whispering to each other with concern welling up in their eyes. Among the whispers of Les Amis was Courfeyrac, "I visited Enjolras last week with Combeferre after he missed a meeting."  
Marius merely nodded, concentrating on every word that was delivered to him.  
"And he never misses a meeting." Courfeyrac almost whined due to his stress, "So when we visited his home- Combeferre has his emergency keys," Marius nodded once again, "So, when we went there, we called for his name but he didn't respond. So of course we panicked. We sweated nervously about where he was and had an argument on where Enjolras had run off to since the house was completely still." Courfeyerac let a pause sneak in his narrative. Marius wondered if he was pausing for breath only to realise he was only waiting for Marius to acknowledge he was listening; so he nodded once again. "When I-- or was it Combeferre?- suggested to check every room, and when we did, in the last room- his bedroom- I yelped." Marius leaned in closer, and Courfeyrac wiped his hands to rid his sweat, "Enjolras was there!" This statement was the loudest noise the Musain had produced yet. Naturally, a few people turned their heads, their interests pivoting towards them.  
Courfeyrac awkwardly cleaned his throat and coughed after doing it wrong as some of his saliva defended down the wrong pipe. The panic in him traveled to Marius as he also became agitated and slapped Courfeyrac's back as an impulse.  
His coughs weren't deceased, but he continued talking nevertheless, "Enjolras was there," he whispered quieter than before, "There was a lump in the bed, a huge one. Scared, I wobbled my way to the bed and poked it. No response. It was like touching a corpse," Not that he would know what a corpse felt like, "I concluded there was a body under the heavy duvet, so I went to the other side of the bed, uh, that was the side that was facing the window, and there I saw a head that was popped out from the duvet shell his rest of the body was in. And- let me tell you, he was so, so smelly. His hair was so oily, and his eyes were so tired with dark circles, or even enlarged ovals, below them. Although he was in his bed, he seemed to have not been able to sleep. I don't know what's gotten into him. Do you know, Pontmercy?"  
This was the first time there was any sort of turn taking in the conversation. After such absence of speaking, Marius' mouth felt quite dry yet he still replied, "He was furious last time I saw him."  
"Yes, that's right."  
"Wasn't Grantaire with him? If I recall properly, Enjolras... shouted at him..."  
"That's right, and Grantaire was banking in tears when he left, barely saying goodbye."  
"That was also the last time he saw him." Marius straightened his back, his eyes widening, "It is not possible the two are avoiding each other at the same time?"  
Courfeyrac thought for a while, "No, I don't believe so." He whispered almost silently, gesturing Marius to lean towards him again. "When I saw Enjolras, he was completely unresponsive. I even waved a hand in front of his face."  
"He didn't blink?" Marius predicted where the conversation was going to steer to.  
"No," Marius guessed wrong, "Enjolras blinked, all right," Courfeyrac paused, rearranging words in his head, probably, "He knew what was happening around him... He just... was a lump of... He was like, uh, hm, a corpse?"  
"A corpse?" Marius dropped his jaw slightly at this remark.  
"Yes. Quite limp- no, completely, limp. If I didn't know Enjolras, I would have thought he was a skeleton under only skin with no muscles to support its sad body."

When the conversation dissolved, Marius stumbled awkwardly a corner of Musain, and plopped himself next to Jean Prouvaire, his acquaintance. His friends comfortably instructed to call the man 'Jehan' due to a joke that he wasn't able to understand the slightest of. "Are you, um, "He cleared his throat, "Do you worry abut Grantaire"  
"Yes," Jehan spoke without hesitation, "Of course, we're all worrying about E- Grantaire?"  
Marius raised his eyebrow in confusion and scratched the back of his head, "Yes."  
"Well, yes. Of course."  
Marius nodded slowly, taking everything in. "Let's bond."  
"What?" Jean almost shouted in shock.  
"Our relationship is so distant, and I want to be close friends with you." Jehan nodded slowly with slight horror etched in his face, "Let's visit Grantaire."  
Jehan thought not, "Okay." He sighed.  
"Great, uh, where does he live?"

With the guidance of Jehan, the two arrived to a rotting apartment. When Jehan refused to touch the door, Marius knocked instead. After a devastating, sharp silent moment had passed, a glorious, warm light engulfed them. It seemed the two learnt something new about Grantaire; he may be poor, but he will transform the devastating situation he was handed down to something magnificent. Shockingly, everything was intact, and dare they say, welcoming.  
"What are you guys doing here?" Unlike Enjolras, Grantaire seemed to have some lightness in his voice, although there was no smile written his face unfortunately.  
Marius immediately stumbled despite this being his idea in the first place.  
"We're here to see our friend," Jehan spoke smoothly, "We haven't seen you for the longest time." Grantaire shrugged with some elements of forced carelessness.

After a while, the three were sitting on a plastic round table in the tiny kitchen of Grantaire's petite apartment. "I've gotta say, above all the goddamn people," Grantaire smirked as he took a sip from his beer, "I didn't expect you two to see how I was doing."  
Marius opened his mouth then elegantly shut it straight after, This movement was so graceful one would guess he was fluent in opening and closing his mouths without anybody noticing.  
"Enjolras hasn't been okay, I heard," Jehan took a sip from his bottle. So far Marius was the only one sober. "I thought you could bring him back-."  
"That's a hard no," Grantaire chuckled, "Why would he listen to me?"  
"If you were the one to chase him away, you are the one who can make him come back." Everyone at that moment regretted what Marius had just said due to the awkwardness of the vacuum of noise before and after this comment.

Grantaire took a step back. Not literally, just mentally. He evaluated his situation. He did not like it. That was his conclusion.  
"Marius," he snapped the line of silence in the room, "Why are you like this?"  
Marius stammered and stuttered creating an incomprehensible response.   
Grantaire shrugged. "Enjolras... Doesn't need me. He said this before."  
"He's been upset at his mother before," Jehan muttered.  
"Upset is a weak word," Grantaire almost snapped, feeling defensive of Enjolras.   
"Sorry," Jehan cocked his head slightly to the right, "I meant that, we have seen him cry and wail before and we've helped him out. But... We haven't seen him... Like this. He hasn't come to Musain for two weeks. I believe he's also mad about other things..."  
"Including you," Marius made a contributional comment.  
Grantaire lifted his eyebrow. Whenever he mocked or played with Enjolras, he did not know he had so many breakdowns. All this time he did not know Enjolras was wearing a mask.  
Grantaire almost wanted to cry. Lash out at his friends, even. Though he remembered the pain Enjolras delivered to him when he did that to him... Instead, he stood up quietly and stumbled off to his bedroom as if he was heavily intoxicated and all he needed was some sleep.

Jehan and Marius thus was left in the kitchen, not knowing what to do. They didn't have the keys, and was sure the door was locked. In other words, they were barricaded in.  
"Do you want to sleep on the sofa," Jehan requested.  
Marius shrugged. Then paused. "Don't tell Cosette."  
Jehan almost snorted, "Of course not."  
"And don't tell Courfeyrac." His eyes blazed certainty and seriousness, perhaps more than his last statement.  
Jehan had no idea what this was about, but he was too tired to ask. "Right then, I won't."

**Author's Note:**

> I did try to lighten up the mood with humour which I think was over the place and I apologise for that.   
> I just didn't want this fic to be amped up to 100% angst.


End file.
